Range Training magazine failure

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cnette01

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At my monthly security training session I had an occurrence that I have not seen before. During a magazine drill the fresh magazine that I inserted into my semi auto had a major malfunction. The base pad popped off and the guts of the magazine the spring and follower and all ammo were dumped on the ground. I have used this same magazine at previous training sessions with no issues. We examined the magazine and it appears to be fine. I reassembled the magazine and continued to use it with no further malfunctions.

I purchased a couple of new magazines recently and compared one of the new ones to the one I had the malfunction with. I don’t see any differences. I did mark the magazine in question and will continue to use it as a range magazine but I am mystified as to what happened. Any thoughts?
 
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Do you by any chance allow your magazines to drop to the earth when you shoot at the range? It's a common practice, I know, but it can and will damage magazines over time, (some more than others, especially when dropped onto hard surfaces like concrete) and thus will cause malfunctions as well as accelerated wear.

Unfortunately, the weakest part of any semiautomatic firearm that feeds from a detachable box magazine is said magazine, so as popular and arguably vital as it may be to let your magazines fall to earth when training, it will invariably result in the need to more frequently disassemble, clean, and replace said magazines because they're being subjected to a lot of dirt, dust, wear and tear that way, so you're magazine could have either had the base plate knocked loose from striking the ground frequently or possibly even been damaged.

Oh, and another thing, if your magazine doesn't need to be slapped firmly into place when loaded into your pistol in order to lock in/function reliably, then don't do it, as even that might potentially damage certain magazines over time which aren't built particularly sturdy.
 
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Thanks guys - it is a Ruger Max 9 with factory mags, and yes I drop the mags on the ground during training. No concrete, grass/dirt. I do clean the mags after training, and we did look at this particular one out on the range and couldn't see anything wrong with it, no dirt, grass, or deformities in the mag body or parts. I just have never seen or experienced this happening before. All I can come up with is that somehow I had worked the baseplate partially off without realizing it. This is a mag that I had been carrying in a safariland 123 mag pouch prior to range day - maybe I bumped into something and the baseplate button got pushed in and base plate moved?
 
Took a brand new GI surplus 1911 mag out of the wrapper. I loaded it, put it in my Commander and fired one shot. The base plate popped off spitting the spring and all the remaining rounds on the range floor. I gathered all the pieces and proceeded to put them right in the trash. I have several more of those mags still in the wrapper, and that's where they are going to stay. You never know when something is going to fail.
 
Do you take the magazines apart to clean them, and have you changed out baseplates for the finger extension?

cnette01 said:
Thanks guys - it is a Ruger Max 9 with factory mags, and yes I drop the mags on the ground during training. No concrete, grass/dirt. I do clean the mags after training, and we did look at this particular one out on the range and couldn't see anything wrong with it, no dirt, grass, or deformities in the mag body or parts. I just have never seen or experienced this happening before. All I can come up with is that somehow I had worked the baseplate partially off without realizing it. This is a mag that I had been carrying in a safariland 123 mag pouch prior to range day - maybe I bumped into something and the baseplate button got pushed in and base plate moved?
Click to expand...
 
I only disassemble the mags if they look like they need cleaning, otherwise just wipe them down with an oily rag. This particular magazine was a 12 round magazine and comes with an extended baseplate from the factory. I did change the baseplate on the 10 round magazine to the finger extension but haven't had any issues with that magazine.

These magazines are not that old and neither is the firearm. I've only had this since the end of March and it only has about 400 rounds through it.

Thanks for the comments and advice!
 
Forte Smitten Wesson said:
Oh, and another thing, if your magazine doesn't need to be slapped firmly into place when loaded into your pistol in order to lock in/function reliably, then don't do it, as even that might potentially damage certain magazines over time which aren't built particularly sturdy.
Click to expand...

I'm going to take this one step further: your magazines should not be slapped into position. A firm press should be all that's necessary. If you find you need to slap, perhaps some workout routine is indicated. If you're worried about them not locking into place, you're supposed to be giving them a slight tug after inserting them to make sure they're properly locked in.

The base pads/plate of most magazines act as on overtravel stop. You don't want to be abusing them unnecessarily. Also, after you pick your mags up off the ground, and before you load them, check the baseplate latch to make sure it's properly engaged. Some latches are more prone than others to partially loosen. The bean counters are usually more interested in saving a farthing than making sure your magazines stay intact.
 
"Any thoughts?"

Well. Since you asked..... My club has bi-weekly shoots. Last week at the plate shoot I saw too many flubs, failures, glitches, etc. with the various semi-autos for me to ever carry one. It was just an informal match. But still, almost everyone there is a proficient hobbyist shooter but if something can go wrong it will. I cut down my chances of failure by carrying the most dependable gun I can. A J frame 38.
 
Slamming a mag into the grip hard can cause the base pad locking button to retract upward and with just a slight movement of the base pad lock it up.

On one of the next few insertions, the unlocked base pad will slide off, causing your experience.

Insert firmly but not a heavy slam. I had a Beretta that would lose base pads regularly upon too hard an insertion.
 
CB3 said:
Slamming a mag into the grip hard can cause the base pad locking button to retract upward and with just a slight movement of the base pad lock it up.

On one of the next few insertions, the unlocked base pad will slide off, causing your experience.

Insert firmly but not a heavy slam. I had a Beretta that would lose base pads regularly upon too hard an insertion.
Click to expand...

I've seen this happen several times. Sometimes on older mags with weak springs. Once on a brand new mag.

I've also seen mag base pads break. Older metal Beretta 92 mags were prone to this.
 
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